The Ministry of Education in Solomon Islands says it is doing its best to meet the remaining relevelling dues owed to teachers.
Teachers across the country have been on strike for the past two weeks - the third since the start of the year - and are refusing to return to work until the government completes all relevelling payments owed to them.
The Permanent Secretary of Education Dr Fred Rohorua told Beverley Tse that, as promised, the government met the first payment deadline to 21 educational authorities on Thursday and it hopes to pay the remaining 8 authorities by 8 August.
FRED ROHORUA: We are working extremely hard and we hope to be able to prepare a cabinet paper next week for them to approve the money due to teachers so that it's paid in the next fortnight.
BEVERLEY TSE: And what do you say to the teachers? Are you hoping that they'll stop striking?
FR: Well, they shouldn't have gone on strike in the first place, anyway. The government is continuing to pay them. As I said at the beginning of the year when they were on strike that by withholding their labour and getting paid for nothing, they're actually robbing the children of this country.
BT: But the teachers have been owed their relevelling dues for some time. Why has it taken so long for the government to meet these payments?
FR: Well, it's partly our fault here at the ministry because we haven't budgeted that for this year. But the government has already made a commitment. We've already demonstrated to by being teachers. So I don't know what the problem is, why they're still going on strike.
BT: They're going on strike because they haven't fully been paid those promised dues.
FR: Those things take time. Those things take time. We're working through them. The teachers know that.
BT: Why wasn't the government able to include these relevelling dues within the budget?
FR: It was just an oversight by the Ministry of Education.
BT: It seems like a big oversight when the government had made this commitment.
FR: Well, it is. We agree it is an oversight, but we're doing our best to rectify that.
BT: The teachers say they're striking because they've been promised numerous times they'd be fully paid and they still haven't received it.
FR: That's what they keep saying.
BT: Can you guarantee that all the money left to be paid will be paid by 8 August?
FR: What is humanly possible, yes.
BT: Regarding the education of the students who've been affected there has been quite a lot of concern from parents and teachers about the delay to the education and that some students have less time to prepare for national exams. What are your thoughts on that?
FR: I think they should go and talk to SINTA about that.
BT: Why is that?
FR: 'Cause SINTA is the one who called on the strike.
BT: But they called on the strike because they're waiting for the teachers to receive their relevelling dues from the government.
FR: We've already given them the assurance, we've paid them, we've done it. And yet they can't call off the strike, so SINTA is the one that's responsible.
BT: Well, SINTA is saying that the government is responsible. Will the government take any responsibility for the fact that a lot of students have missed out on a lot of school this year?
FR: We've already said that we're responsible in the fact that we have not budgeted for this year. But we're doing all we can now to meet those expenses, so what more can we do?
